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National Scams Awareness Week – #IsThisForReal – 21 to 25 May 2018

Is your organisation ready to support National Scams Awareness Week (NSAW)?

161,528 scams were reported to Scam Watch in 2017 in Australia alone, which equates to at least $90,928,622 lost by Australian scam victims.

The Security Influence & Trust Community have partnered with Stay Smart Online and Scam Watch from the ACCC to deliver a consistent message to this Australian public to help prevent victims of scams. This NSAW industry, government and not-for-profits will rally behind a single consistent message which focuses on getting people to ask #IsThisForReal when dealing with requests, offers and threats via phone, email, text and social media.

The general public are bombarded by life – messaging and advertising invade every part of this – on the roads, in airports, on social media, via email and occasionally these include a security message or two. But have you noticed these security messages are rarely the same, simple or memorable (#stickysecurity)? A single customer will very likely get a different list of security tips from their bank, than they will from their Telco or their chosen charity or government agency. Research varies on the actual number, but it all points to the same reality, a message needs to be repeated MANY times (7-20 x in fact) to become sticky.

So what does this mean for cyber security? As an industry there is an opportunity to collaborate and reduce those “top 10 tips for being secure online” to #onething and better yet, repeat it(#AmplifyIt) consistently across government, industry and not-for-profits. We can create “stickiness”, stop competing for the publics limited attention and actually meaningfully contribute to a Cyber Smart Nation. We have tried and tested this approach and we have proven it works:

In February for #SID2017 with #AskOutLoud, which was repeated well over 300x (in less than a day) – and even trended across Australia!

In February 2018 promoting “respect online” for #SID2018 reaching approximately 15 million Australians!

#IsThisForReal was born at the SIT Summit in 2017, voted for by leaders in the Australian Cyber Security industry and adopted by ACCC and Stay Smart Online.

Now you can get involved in National Scams Awareness Week – it’s simple: visit the Stay Smart Online website to access the resource kit including social media imagery, posters, news articles, case studies and advice on threat-based scams and where to seek help – www.staysmartonline.gov.au/scams2018. Please share these resources with your staff, customers and networks.